Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has considered opportunities to provide services between Carlisle and Glasgow/Edinburgh but found that a ScotRail service could not be supported due to the cost of providing this service, the capacity constraints on the route for additional train services and the anticipated level of patronage. However, the Scottish Government is committed to improving connectivity to promote sustainable economic growth and is willing to review the proposal should circumstances change.

We will only know the true cost per mile of the A9 once we have taken it to the market, however our current estimates are in the region of £19million per mile, rising to £37million per mile once risk, optimism bias and inflation are included. This produces a £3billion overall estimate (80 miles x £37million). However, this can only be an approximate estimate at this stage in the process.

Through the £212 million investment in the replacement Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, NHS Dumfries and Galloway will discharge the conditions associated with the planning consent for the new hospital, including required improvements to a major trunk road roundabout and road realignments to allowances to the hospital.

Further planning conditions have stipulated that improvements are made to some other existing parts of the road network to accommodate traffic impacts of the new hospital and agreement has been reached that a commuted sum of £220k from the health board for these works would be vested in Dumfries and Galloway Council to allow these works to be completed.

The assessment criteria for the £30 million Scottish Stations Fund, which aims to lever in third party funding to provide new and improved stations, covers both rural and urban communities.

All proposals for stations should firstly be directed to the relevant Regional Transport Partnership (RTP) to assess how it fits with their local and regional transport strategies. If appropriate, the RTP will undertake an appraisal to determine the most suitable transport options for the area. The scope and level of detail required in the appraisal is determined by the nature and scale of the transport problems and the impacts of the potential transport options in a particular area.

Transport Scotland officials are always available to offer advice and guidance on the proportionate application of Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance, if requested.

Funding has already been approved through the Stations Fund for improvements at both urban and rural stations benefiting passengers using ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper services.

Total expenditure on transport infrastructure, as reported within The National Transport Statistics 2015 edition and within the Transport Scotland Annual Report and Accounts, totals £18billion since 2007. The totals for each year are shown in the following table. A breakdown of transport infrastructure expenditure by local authority area is not available.

Source: Years 2007-08-2014-15 = Scottish National Statistics 2015 edition, Years 2015-16 and 2016-17 = Transport Scotland Annual Report and Accounts 2015-16 and published Scottish Budget.

Whilst total expenditure on transport infrastructure, as reported above, totals £18 billion since 2007 to date, a breakdown by local authority area is not possible. This is in part because some investments are of a national nature (Forth Replacement Crossing) and others span a number of local authority areas, such as the M80, the M74 and the M77 construction projects.

The Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 places statutory responsibility for local roads, including structures, improvements, maintenance and repair with local roads authorities. The Scottish Government has allocated over £10.3 billion to local government in 2016-17 and it is for individual councils to allocated funding based on local needs and priorities, including funding for road repairs.

In August 2016, Audit Scotland reported a significant variation in road condition among councils. For example, in 2014-15, the proportion of local roads in acceptable condition ranged from 44% in Argyll and Bute Council to 79% in Orkney Islands Council.

From a national perspective the Scottish Government continues to co-fund the Roads Collaboration Programme and uses that forum to actively engage with councils to explore opportunities for the sharing of services for road maintenance activities.

The Scottish Government is continuing to co-fund the Road Collaboration Programme. The Programme was established in December 2013 to explore opportunities for road authorities to share services and is overseen by a Board comprising Transport Scotland, members of the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS), SOLACE, COSLA and the Improvement Service. The Programme's aims include encouraging and supporting authorities to share best practice, innovation and expertise.

Furthermore, the Scottish Road Research board meet quarterly to commission and co-ordinate research projects.

to deliver improvements in safety, construction, operation and maintenance to both the trunk and local road network. The Board's objectives include promoting and delivering innovation, sharing new products, techniques and knowledge across Scotland’s road sector.

Transport Scotland’s Road Asset Management Plan (RAMP) sets out how our trunk road network is maintained safely, strategically and efficiently to protect our assets and ensure maximum value for money from our road maintenance activities. The RAMP can be accessed at: http://www.transport.gov.scot/road/maintenance/road-asset-management-plan

Trunk road defects are repaired in accordance with the timescales specified in the Operating Company contracts. These can be accessed at: http://www.transport.gov.scot/road/maintenance/operating-companies .

While local authorities are responsible for ensuring they are fulfilling their statutory obligations regarding the maintenance of local roads in their area, the Scottish Government is committed to working with local authorities to ensure the efficient maintenance of all roads in Scotland.

The Road Maintenance Strategic Action Group, which I co-chair with COSLA, provides local road authorities and Transport Scotland with strategic direction and oversees partnership working on road maintenance activities and duties.

Going Further- Scotland’s Accessible Travel Framework was published on 21 September 2016. Accessibility issues in urban and rural areas will be an important focus of work through the 10 year lifetime of the Framework.

The Scottish Government is investing in significant access improvements through Abellio ScotRail who have begun major refurbishment of trains operating on rural routes. Access improvements are also being delivered at stations across the country, and all new stations such as those opened on the Borders Railway are step free and fully accessible. Abellio ScotRail are required to provide a range of services dedicated to assisting disabled passengers to facilitate their travel.

The timetable for all single decker buses to be fully accessible was 1 January 2016, with double decker’s due by 1 January 2017 and coaches by 1 January 2020. Until these dates, fleet renewal and deployment is a discretionary operational matter for individual operators. Disability legislation is reserved to the UK Parliament, however the Scottish Government is committed to encouraging bus operators to meet these regulations within the timetable.